Kicking things off on July 6 is the full-length Oath-Midnight Rain show from the Beijing Modern Dance Company. The performance is an exploration of the Buddhist Samsara, an ideology that looks at the cycle of death and rebirth and the time between night and day.

“This is a company that is one of the most recognized modern companies in China,” said Spencer. “The performers are so well trained and beautiful in the way they execute the choreography.”

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The last full-length festival show comes from the Montreal-based Helen Simard company. The NO FUN show (July 14) is based on the movement and music of punk icon Iggy Pop.

In between those two companies there are 25 other groups that will dance across the city in the 10-day festival.

“It is a lot of programming but I think it is necessary,” said Spencer. “I think we have such an amazing number of talented artists right here in Vancouver. We have a very strong creative community here.”

Montreal-based company Helen Simard will close out the Dancing on Edge Festival (July 6-15, 2017) with its performance of NO Fun, a dance piece based on the music of rock legend Iggy Pop.Frederic Chais/Vancouver

In that wide community of contemporary dance are a lot of styles and influences which provide a variety of choices for the average audience member. Those new to dance can experience different performances in one curated sitting via the EDGE events. The seven mixed programs are made up of a two to three performances, each one in the 10 to 20 minute range.

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Another door opener to dance is the site-specific idea of performance. A stroll through Stanley Park or a stop at a red light in East Van could land you in front of a group of dancers.

“Part of that work is driven by the wish to engage people and show people your work but also have them react to you,” said Spencer. “It’s exciting and exhilarating. You’re right there with people. They become part of the performance. It feeds the performance.”

“I really love putting dance in public spaces. I think not enough people have had the opportunity to see dance as an art form,” said Gail Lotenberg who’s LINK Dance Foundation is performing in various intersections in the city. “Most people have seen live music and some sort of theatre as an art form but many people have only engaged in dance as a social activity and have never seen it as a performing art. I believe people should see dance as a performing art and become familiar — they might like it.”

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While the festival sets out to entertain and inform audiences it also plays a role in the education of a dancer and the health of the dance scene.

“Our company has been in nearly everyone of the Dancing on the Edge festivals since its inception so it makes a whole colloquium for the dance community and the audiences that go around the dance community,” said Jennifer Mascall of Mascall Dance. “By meeting in the bar and talking about the performances and sharing ideas everybody connects. Also everyone can afford these performances so it’s really a fantastic place to go to.”

Cori Caulfield of Coriograph theatre in Port Moody agrees and sees the festival as a key part in the learning process for her young performers.

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“I am not so interested in exposure for the company but I am interested in exposure for my kids,” said Caulfield. “I’m hoping my kids will get excited about seeing contemporary dance and not just doing it.”

This year’s event features 27 dance companies taking part in the 10-day festival, which runs from July 6 to 15 at various locations around Vancouver. It has traditionally attracted top international and Canadian performers as well as many top homegrown talents.

Here are three Lower Mainland companies that are helping to round out the diverse contemporary dance program:

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Dancer Cori Caulfield’s company will be presenting at the Dancing on the Edge Festival. The Poets is a performance that will use songs from Leonard Cohen, David Bowie and the Tragically Hip. Steven Lemay/Vancouver

EDGE 4, Coriograph Theatre

July 10, 7 p.m., July 12, 9 p.m. | Firehall Arts Centre

Creative director Cori Caulfield has turned to the world of contemporary music for inspiration for the Coriograph Theatre’s performance of The Poets.

Eleven dancers aged 12 to 18 will be performing to the music of The Tragically Hip, Caulfield will be doing a solo to the music of Leonard Cohen, and her sister professional dancer Hailley Caulfield Postle performs a soloto an original mix of music by David Bowie, arranged by local composer Mark Taylor.

“Leonard Cohen’s poetry has always just blown my mind,” said Caulfield who also runs the Caulfield School of Dance in Port Moody. “He makes me think as well as feel. With David Bowie it is almost like sneakiness. You can listen to the song without really focusing on the lyrics and just focus on the groovy repetition, but then if you actually listen to the words the depth of meaning and the sophistication is so intense. And the Hip, well, I think Gord Downie may be one of our greatest living poets.”

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When asked what three tracks her dancers will be performing to Caulfield is cagey.

“Do I have to give it away? I think it’s kind of fun to go to a show and you know there is going to be Leonard Cohen but you don’t know which one,” said Caulfield. “I like surprises.”

Dancer Sarra Barinbaum is part of the LINK Dance Foundation’s site-specific show Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road. The show is part of the Dancing on Edge Festival.Robert Semeniuk/Vancouver

That idea is at the core of the LINK Dance Foundation’s new intersection-based show Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road.

“Public frivolity is the notion we intervene in public space and create art in somewhat unexpected fashion,” said LINK’s artistic director Gail Lotenberg. “That’s where a crosswalk intervention or intersection stems from, the idea of public frivolity.”

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This sort of pop up approach to the arts also makes for smart marketing.

“The idea is you enter into everyday life and create dance performance where people are rather than always asking them to buy a ticket and come to where you are,” said Lotenberg.

A crew of eight dancers will be performing shows at Burrard and Canada Place and the intersections of Davie and Bute, and Commercial Drive and Venables.

Set to an electronica score, each show is about 10 minutes long and will have the dancers utilizing the intersection spaces.

Don’t worry no commuting will be harmed during this artistic expression.

“The crosswalks are the stage so the dancers are being directed to dance along the cross walks and they follow the flow of the cross walk lights,” said Lotenberg. “They will only be dancing when the white walking man says walk

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“They are effectively doing what all pedestrians are welcome to do.”

EDGE 2, Mascall Dance

July 8, 7 p.m., July 9, 9 p.m. | Firehall Arts Centre

This performance is actually a work in progress so audience members are actually getting in on the ground floor.

“We are putting together a whole series of ideas and I am not sure how it is going to arrive in the final product but in the progress it is really fascinating to work with,” said choreographer Jennifer Mascall, whose company have been using this “public research” approach for the past five years.

This year’s performance involves four dancers who are making the music they will dance to from their own bodies.

“We are working on the idea of what are the sounds that actually come from the body and what are the rhythms of it,” said Mascall. “If you can imagine a primal source and a Fred Astaire movie. It’s funny, entertaining and easy going.”

CORRECTION:This story has been updated with additional information in the section about Coriograph Theatre’s performance of The Poets.

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